[X4U] iMac dead?

[Mary C. Youra]

On Jan 14, 2008, at 11:18 PM, Christopher Collins wrote:

> If one assumes that the hard disk is failing as you suggest, then  
> just installing Leopard will not resolve that problem.

No no, Christopher--I'd been prepared for that, but the hard disk  
appears to be okay, at least, according to Diskwarrior, SMARTReporter  
and the Mac shop.
> <snip>
> If the hard disk isn't failing, then why not just do a complete  
> "erase and install"? I would have tried that long before now.

Before I took it to the Mac shop, we had tried to do that, and got as  
far as Erase, as far as we knew. At that point, however, the volume  
didn't show up as available, so we were unable to Install. That's  
when I took it to the shop, thinking it was the hard drive, but they  
say it's not. The invoice says they repaired the crosslinked files  
and directories, and reinstalled the os.  I can't tell what kind of  
OS reinstall (I can't tell what kind--the invoice says only  
"reinstall" and there is no "Previous" folder the way there is with  
an Archive and Install).

> You appear to be spending more time than is necessary or sensible  
> trying to avoid doing a clean install.
> Copy the data off the drive, install your boot cd. reboot and do an  
> "erase and install"
> Then you can restore your data and applications.

I'm really not trying to avoid a clean install--it's just that, as  
you suggest, I need to copy the data and applications first, and  
there are things I don't want to copy, like the previously deleted  
users who were restored by the Mac shop. I don't want them in a clone  
of the drive, but I do want all the applications. I use SuperDuper  
for my own computer. Is there something else you would suggest for this?

> Much simpler, and in the end the best option if your hard disk is  
> not faulty.
> If the hard disk is faulty, then you will need to replace it and  
> then do an "erase and install" anyways.

This makes sense. My only question now is what will we be installing-- 
Tiger or Leopard. Why go to the time and effort of Erase and Install  
of 10.4 and then running the combo updater for 10.4.11, if soon she's  
installing Leopard?